National Innovation Centre for Ageing NICA

National Innovation Centre for Ageing NICA

About

A globally ageing population presents us with many challenges and opportunities.

Key challenges include:

living better for longer - keeping people as healthy as possible as they age

ageing in place - helping them stay in their own homes

maintaining quality of life when illness develops

And many opportunities exist too.

Older people are a large proportion of consumers with potential economic advantages. They can offer extended employment and post retirement options (eg volunteering). This adds productive value as well as enhancing social unity.

They comprise a powerful social network via engagement with technology and the digital world.

The National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA) will do this by matching the needs and demands of an ageing population, with world-leading science, technology and design.

We will bring together business, academia and the public to stimulate innovation of products and services that make older lives better. We will do this at our iconic new building, which we will share with innovation experts and businesses. Part-funded by the Medical Research Council, the building, which will open from 2020, will be at the heart of Science Central.

This innovation precinct will be a place where people work together in creative and entrepreneurial ways; supporting interaction between sectors, disciplines and geographic boundaries.